Super 16: Maryland stays put

By Mark Button, CNNSI.com

Forget The Associated Press and the Coaches Top 25 polls. You want to know which are the best college teams right now? Look no further.

It's Week 10 for CNNSI.com's Super 16 Poll, which ranks the hottest 16 teams for the week of Feb. 19-25. We're tracking week-to-week momentum here, paying no attention to national rankings, RPI or projected NCAA seedings.

CNNSI.com Super 16 Rank LW Team 1 1 Maryland Terrapins (23-3) Yeah, you could argue that Josh Howard and Wake Forest gave Sunday's game to Maryland with the timeout he called when Wake had no timeouts, but the fact is that Maryland won the game. Juan Dixon hit the free throws. And the Terps crushed Clemson four days earlier, which was three days after beating Duke. 2 2 Kansas Jayhawks (25-2) Yes, we toyed with the idea of moving Kansas ahead of Maryland, using the argument that the Jayhawks actually won their road game against Nebraska (88-87) on the floor. But then again, it was Nebraska. 3 4 Duke Blue Devils (25-2) Showed no signs of postgame pouting over the Maryland loss (87-73 on Feb. 17) by crushing two tournament teams by an average of 35 points: Wake Forest (90-61 on the road) and St. John's (97-55). 4 3 Cincinnati Bearcats (26-2) The Bearcats got the win they needed -- 63-62 against Marquette -- but they fall one spot because of Duke's huge margin of victories last week against tournament teams. (It's just one spot, Cincinnati fans. No reason for panic.) 5 5 Alabama Crimson Tide (23-5) Went 1-1 last week, but the one victory was against Florida, a team capable of serious damage in March, and the one loss was at Arkansas. Things change during the season, and yes, we have come around on Florida's potential (finally, Gator fans say). Bama's win against Florida is worthy of a bump up to No. 5. 6 8 Oklahoma Sooners (22-4) Oklahoma handled its business (wins against Baylor and Texas) and moves up, thanks to Marquette's loss to Cincinnati and the fact that Pittsburgh played only one game last week -- which the Panthers won and ... 7 7 Pittsburgh Panthers (23-4) ... thus Pittsburgh holds steady at No. 7. Let's face it, the Big East is a mess. The conference tournament should be wide open and interesting, though. 8 11 Oregon Ducks (20-7) Have we told you we love Oregon lately? The Ducks beat up on Washington and Washington State this week and move up three spots. Couldn't you just watch highlights of Frederick Jones dunking on people for hours? We could. 9 6 Marquette Golden Eagles (23-4) You know how it goes here. Cincinnati's one-point victory against Marquette sends the Golden Eagles down three spots. Chances are we'll see Cincinnati-Marquette III in the C-USA tourney. 10 10 Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-3) Like Cincinnati, Gonzaga got the win it needed -- against West Coast Conference rival Pepperdine (91-78), then followed it up with victories at San Francisco and St. Mary's on consecutive days. We hold Gonzaga steady at No. 10 because so many other top Super 16 teams won last week. 11 - California Bears (20-6) Cal makes its first appearance after sweeping UCLA (69-51) and USC (83-64). The Pac-10 is a mess, too, but unlike the Big East, the top of the Pac-10 standings is clogged with quality teams. 12 - Georgia Bulldogs (20-7) Just one game last week -- a 55-54 win at LSU -- which was not incredibly impressive. The weight of Georgia's 78-69 victory against Kentucky on Feb. 16 helped carry the Bulldogs back into the Super 16. 13 11 Indiana Hoosiers (18-9) Split two games last week. Defeated Ohio State 63-57 on Wednesday to take sole possession of first place in the Big Ten, then lost at Michigan State 57-54 to move back into a share of the lead with the Buckeyes. 14 15 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (25-3) Chris Marcus is back. And then some. Thirty-two points and 15 boards against Kentucky State in a 100-63 win and 27 points against Middle Tennessee State. It shouldn't surprise people if the Hilltoppers win two or three games in the tournament. 15 - Kent State Golden Flashes (22-5) A 13-game winning streak starting and ending with victories against Ohio. Yes, the same Ohio team that went into Chapel Hill and beat the mighy Tar Heels! (Any other year and that would bring credibility). 16 14 Florida Gators (20-6) The Gators lost to Alabama on the road by one point on a flukey play that was a mistake made by a freshman (James White let Antoine Pettway slip behind him for that open stick-back). We're not kicking Florida out of the Super 16 altogether because of a play like that.

Dropped out: Stanford (17-9), Rutgers (18-9), Xavier (20-5).

Keeping our eye on: Hawaii (22-4), Wisconsin (17-11), Illinois (21-7), UConn (20-6).

As always, we know you have an opinion on this topic. Who did we miss? Who should we be watching more closely? Give us your thoughts by clicking here, and we'll post some of your responses next week.